A-Band Review

By Kevin Mitchell  |  Posted: July 27, 2012

Dust off the drum sets and get ready for an Xbox Live Indie game that brings indie rock from around the world to your ears for only 3 bucks. Yes, 3 bucks! The presentation invokes the style of the indie scene, and the game could have easily been an Xbox Live Arcade title. While the rhythm game genre may be in decline, A-Band comes to put that notion to rest.

There are a bunch of different game modes, especially for an Indie title: arcade mode, freestyle recording, and training modes. The game allows you to use either your Rock Band drum set or the Guitar Hero set. If you don't have any, it's possible to use the controller, but I don't recommend playing with the controller as it defeats the purpose of the game. Rhythm games just don't feel the same when playing with the controller, not to mention I find it much harder to do so.

Moving upwards on the screen instead of downwards, the main arcade mode plays similar to what you would expect from a music title. As an XBLIG game, there isn't much in the way of fluff. Don't expect note streaks and an overdrive/star power mode to be included – which simplifies the gameplay to simply matching the colored notes that appear. The game only starts with a couple of different songs, and completing the next song on the list will open up the following song. Each song has three different difficulties, but even on the default setting, the game will make you work for that high score.

Indie rock may not be for everyone, and if you are expecting to hear top 40 songs, you will be disappointed. The music tracks come from around the world, but if you are into indie rock, the soundtrack is rock-solid – no pun intended.

Simply Put

Recording mode allows you to record your sessions as you drum your heart out to one of the tracks in the game. While lacking some of the gameplay elements of some of the well-known established music game franchises, for $3, A-Band provides enough content to keep you entertained if you are looking for a new experience with your drum set.